Katherine Freeman

The Unit Preface

A: School, Class, and Student Profiles School Profile Central High School is the sole public high school in the Central City Schools system. CHS was built in 1974 when the older high school was no longer large enough to support all high school students living in the city. It currently serves roughly 1200 students in grades 9-12. The sole feeder school is Central Middle School, which serves grades 7-8. The population of Central City Schools is about 42% black, 36% white, 10% Hispanic, 6% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6% other. About 29% of students are labeled as gifted, 12% are special education, and 13% are ESL students, with over 45 languages represented. The gender split is even. Classes are generally broken into two levels: general and advanced/honors/AP. English language learners take ESL classes for each of their subjects until they are proficient enough to be placed into general classes. School begins at 9:00am and ends at 3:45pm. There are seven class periods, each about 48 minutes with four minutes in between. In a regular week, students attend all seven classes on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The other days are block scheduling. Tuesdays are odd periods and Wednesdays are even; each of these class periods is about an hour and 40 minutes. Every student at CHS has been issued a tablet to use for schoolwork. Students are expected to charge them at home. Teachers often provide keyboards in their classrooms because the tablets are difficult to type on. The schools cell phone policy is a bit hazy. Teachers often tell students to stop texting or put away their phones during instructional time, but there are some instances where teachers encourage students to use their phones to look things up or access webpages.

Class Profile The class for whom I am developing this unit is an 12th grade English class for students who are labeled English as a Second Language (ESL). ESL English 11 is a class of 16 students, all of whom are seniors who must pass the 11th grade reading and writing SOLs to graduate. The average age of the class is 20, and many of the students work outside of school. The class has 8 boys and 8 girls. The ethnicities of the students are: 8 Nepali, 4 Karen/Karenni, 2 Salvedorians, 1 Liberian, and 1 Palestinian. With the exception of one student, they all moved to the US in high school and have been here for an average of 4.5 years. The average age is 20. They are ESL levels 3 and 4. The Lexile levels range from 500-900; students on the higher end read at a 7th or 8th grade reading level, and students on the lower end read at a 3rd grade reading level. The students attend this class for first and second period, meaning they spend an hour and forty minutes in the class each day. There is typically a break in between. There are two teachers, an English teacher and an ESL teacher. During whole-class instruction, the boys are really the only ones who participate. Most of the girls in the class are very shy in front of the whole class, but will willingly contribute in small groups.

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Student Profiles Holly is a 20-year-old Liberian student who moved to the US four years ago. She is the only black student in her class. She often has ideas to share, but she seems nervous and hesitant to speak in front of a large group. However, in small groupsespecially with other girlsshe contributes often. Outside of school, she works in a salon. After she graduates, she hopes to go to college and become a doctor. Shes always smiling. She seems to enjoy school; the other day, she wrote, Best teacher ever! on the Smartboard at the end of class. Holly often needs encouragement during her writing, and she appreciates feedback during the process. She also tends to struggle at the beginning of her writing, but can get a good flow going once she starts. She enjoys reading and actively tries to make sense of words she doesnt understand, but sometimes she can get a little confused and frustrated, and she doesnt know where to go next. Tommy moved to the US from El Salvador when he was five. He is the only student in his class who did not move to the US as a teenager. He is rather bright and can come up with answers quickly, but he has an attitude about school most of the time. He doesnt like to be told what to do, and I have the feeling he is bored most of the time. One day, while students were doing a creative free write, he sat and his desk staring into space and then slowly tore up a paper handed out earlier into smaller and smaller pieces. He only seems to be in class about half of the time. It is hard to get a good idea of his skills because he refuses to participate most of the time. However, he reading comprehension and vocabulary are very good. He often refuses to write in class, so Im not really sure about the quality of his writing. For him, the biggest challenge is to get him to write at all. Outside of school, he works at a grocery store. He doesnt like to share his ambitions, so its unclear what he hopes to do after graduation. Michael is a 21-year-old Palestinian student who grew up in Iraq. Despite the fact that his family had lived in Iraq for decades, they faced ethnic persecution and were forced to leave the country. He is confident and a class leader, but he sometimes has off days where hes quiet, tired, and doesnt participate much. But most of the time, he speaks more in class than any other student. He is always ready to share his answers, even if theyre not correct. Reading comprehension questions are a little challenging for him; he generally catches on to what is being discussed, but he misses some of the subtleties of meaning. When he reads, he is very attentive to words and idioms he does not understand, and he will often ask questions about what certain phrases mean. He often writes quickly and efficiently. His writing and speaking skills are around the same level. He is comfortable using some larger vocabulary works in his writing. The biggest challenge for his writing is to push him further and encourage him to revise and work his writing. He currently works at a burrito place in town, but he hopes to go to PVCC to get a nursing degree. He also wants to join the military (which will help pay for schooling), but his father is against it.

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B: The Big Idea, Targeted Skill, & the Rationale Primary Focus: Identity and Community Secondary Focus: Personal Writing Rationale The purpose of this unit is to get students thinking about the concept of personal identity as explored in text, which will lead to a consideration of their own identity. Many of these students are likely struggling with their own identities, both as adolescents and as immigrants. From this focus on individual identity, we will expand to a focus on community and how that relates to identity. We will consider both how community can shape and affect and individual identity, and how communities can be strengthened by and support individual identities. The community aspect of this unit addresses two purpose: it invites students to think about how their personal identity is shaped by different communities and cultures they have been a part of, and it also prepares the class to develop its own community. I hope this unit will help develop our class norms and allow us to begin the school year with a strong network of support and understanding. Our exploration of identity and community will likely continue throughout the school year, but this unit will build a firm foundation. Students will continually be asked to reflect on and consider aspects of their own identity, and we will also continue to strengthen our class community and reflect on our progress. Students will be interested in this unit because it will give them an opportunity to explore their own identity. I would like to incorporate many creative projects that give students an opportunity for expression. The texts of the unit will also focus on characters and speakers from various ethnicities, cultures, and languages, so topics of discussion will be more relevant to them. I also think students will feel motivated to participate actively in this unit because it is something they all have experience with. We can build our discussions and understandings from what the students contribute. It will be a unit built on the students experience and interests. It will be an opportunity to learn about each other in an in-depth way. Instead of merely learning about each others interests and hobbies, we will learn about each others experiences, challenges, and struggles, and how those were overcome. This unit will involve practice in oral language and personal writing. Students will engage in conversation in a variety of groups. They will write frequently. Writing is one of the greatest academic challenges for many of these students, and I think that the personal and reflective nature of this unit lends itself many writing opportunities. Writing standards can be addressed throughout these writing exercises. In addition to focusing on content, students can be asked to focus on certain aspects of grammar or mechanics in their writing. These students are under a lot of pressure to do well on the reading and writing SOLs at the end of the year, so working on these skills is very important. I believe this unit is unquiet because a great emphasis will be placed on the students: their interests, their experiences, their identity, and ultimately, the class community they will create. Students will contribute issues to discussion, and they will constantly be asked to relate the material to their own lives.

Katherine Freeman

C: Backwards Design Enduring Understandings 1. Identity can be formed and discovered through reflection. 2. Community is more than the sum of its individuals. 3. Community is a network of trust and support. 4. Strong communities support and strengthen their individuals. Critical Concepts 1. Identity 2. Community 3. Culture 4. Individual

5. Trust 6. Respect

Essential Questions 1. What determines your identity? 2. How do we build a strong community? 3. How do you shape the identity of your community? 4. How does your community shape your personal identity? Critical Student Learning Cognitive: 1. Students will understand that identity can be formed and discovered through reflection. a. Students will collaborate to create a working definition of identity. b. Students will learn about themselves by reflecting on their interactions. c. Students will reflect on how writing has helped them discover themselves. 2. Students will know that a community is a network of trusting, caring individuals. a. Students will share their ideas about the values of a strong community. b. Students will collaborate to create a working definition of community. c. Students will discuss how individuals from different cultures share a sense of community in a text. 3. Students will understand that individuals can shape the identity of a community, and a community can shape the identity of an individual. a. Students will write to explore how the place they are from and cultural community contributes to their identity. b. Students will discuss the ways in which a characters identity is shaped by his or her community. c. Students will know that a community can influence the way we see our own identity.

Katherine Freeman Affective: 4. Students will be able to feel pride in their sense of identity. a. Students will share their personal writing with their classmates and teachers. b. Students will reflect on the process of exploring their identity.

5. Students will be able to develop a class community in which they feel safe and respected. a. Students will act respectfully towards their peers during sharing activities and group work. b. Students will develop class norms to honor during discussions. c. Students will reflect on their experiences working in groups to revise class norms. d. Students will know their personal dispositions about working in a group. 6. Students will be able to recognize and value differences in the class community. a. Students will learn about their peers by reading and engaging in inquiry. b. Students will develop a class social map to illustrate connections within the class community. c. Students will examine the personal writing of their classmates and provide meaningful feedback. Performative: 7. Students will be able to write to explore and reflect on their personal identities and the factors that shape them. a. Students will brainstorm topics of interest for their writing. b. Students will use description and sensory details to enhance their writing. c. Students will use several collaborative and independent methods of revision. d. Students will reflect on how revision has improved their writing. e. Students will use several texts as models for writing. 8. Students will be able to engage in conversations to build their class community. a. Students will actively listening by taking notes and asking questions. b. Students will share about themselves to find connections with classmates. 9. Students will be able to discuss and analyze a variety of texts related to the themes of identity and community. a. Students will reflect on and build up their background knowledge in preparation for reading. b. Students will develop definitions for new vocabulary encountered in a text. c. Students will discuss and reflect on texts to improve their comprehension. d. Students will analyze how a characters cultural community affects their

Katherine Freeman identity and actions. e. Students will compare characters from two texts, focusing on how they construct their identity.

D: Texts (from Backwards Design, with additions) What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie Selections from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Selection from A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Harris

E: The Importance of Creativity & Its Role in this Units Learning I will incorporate creative projects into this unit to give the students different outlets for expression. While writing will play a prominent role in this unit, I want the students to be creative in their incorporation of visual and oral expression. Images, video, and audio will be used. Many of the students in this class feel limited in their ability to express themselves because of their proficiency in English. I believe that incorporating other creative outlets into the class will allow the students to express themselves more than they could with language. Language can then build off these creative expressions, which will build their confidence in writing and speaking. Arts will play a prominent role in this unit as a model for expression. Students will reflect on videos, music, and visual art to explore different representations of identity. Though we will read several texts in this unit, reading comprehension is often a challenge for students in this class. More visual representations may be more accessible to them, allowing them to focus more on the content and concepts than deciphering words on the page. The opportunity to explore identity through a means other than language may build the students confidence and allow them all to contribute meaningfully to the classs learning.

F: Technology Tools/Resources & Rationale for Use It is important for these students to become well versed in technology, as they will need to use it after graduation in work, continuing education, and their personal lives. The students at CHS each are given a tablet, and these will be used frequently in class during this unit and throughout the school year. The first time the students will use their tablets in this unit is for an extension activity following the reading experience. The class will create a class web to show connections between all members using Shanti software. The information for this is sourced through Google docs, so this activity is an excellent opportunity to introduce students to this technology. The students will also use their tablets to type up final copies of several of their writing pieces. Some students may even choose to present their final project digitally, and

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I will show them how to create a website, digital story, or slideshow, if they are interested in pursuing this path.

G: Units Working Title Who am I? Who are We?: Identity & Community